One year ago today, the University of Ottawa hosted a groundbreaking event designed to find out what — if anything — has changed in the decade since then-PM Paul Martin launched a commission of inquiry into the deportation and torture of Maher Arar, my husband.

The “Arar+10” conference, hosted by Amnesty International, the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, the University of Ottawa’s Human Rights Research and Education Centre and the Centre for International Policy Studies, was a solid day of panel discussions and speeches involving three supreme court justices (John Major, Frank Iacobucci and Dennis O’Connor), prominent lawyers, human rights activists, policy-makers, academics, journalists and national security experts.

When it comes to torture, it’s hard not to look good compared to the U.S. authorities who, among other things, subjected an Algerian prisoner to ice-water baths and 66 hours of standing sleep deprivation … before discovering he was not the person they thought he was.

OK, so there were a few screw-ups in the U.S. torture program. Stuff happens. No big deal. Here’s how Dick Cheney summed it up last week: “I would do it again in a minute.”

In light of the utterly barbaric behaviour documented in the U.S. Senate report on torture — behaviour heartily defended by “war on terror” enthusiasts like Cheney — it was perhaps a relief that the Harper government responded by noting that Canada doesn’t torture people.

Former Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci cautioned the government Wednesday against moving too quickly with legislative changes in the wake of the recent murders of two Canadian servicemen.

“I worry whenever an incident comes up, even the ones in the recent weeks, we immediately resort to what changes in the law should be made. And I wonder whether that exercise is as important as some people think it is,” Iacobucci said as part of panel at the University of Ottawa.

“If we rush to the legislative resort, we have to be careful of what we’re doing in terms of overreacting …”

Earlier Wednesday, Justice Minister Peter MacKay told reporters the government is considering legislation to prevent terrorists or their sympathizers from promoting their causes online.

It is almost impressive how the Harper government is moving with such “shameless” and “naked” speed to use last week’s tragedies to grab more surveillance and arrest powers that further undermine the core principles of justice in this country.

The Toronto Star’s Daniel Dale understands this. He was the target of an odious bit of innuendo by a contemptible mayor steeped in real, not implied, ugliness. I don’t intend to use the word that Rob Ford effectively tarred Dale with during his otherwise forgettable chat with Conrad Black, since that would mean regurgitating the lie.

Despite my distaste for journalists launching libel actions, I believe that in this case the accusations are so egregious that Dale was right to sue Ford and Vision TV. His character has been repeatedly defamed by a serial liar and admitted crack cocaine user. That a rarely-watched network permitted the smear to be broadcast in pursuit of a momentary burst of attention also requires a pointed legal response.

I’m not a lawyer, but I know a little about libel law. Dale has a strong case and he likely will prevail if this matter goes to trial. I suspect that Vision TV’s proprietors will, if they have any sense, issue a full-throated apology. As for Ford, I hope he eventually gets the legal comeuppance he so richly deserves.

Some weeks ago, the Harper government announced that it was making its RCMP reform legislation, Bill C-42, a priority for the coming months. The bill, currently at third reading stage in the House of Commons, centres on strengthening the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP.

It would give the commission the ability to decide what information it needs to investigate complaints against the RCMP, rather than leaving it up to the RCMP. The bill also would grant the commission the power to review RCMP policies and practices in order to prevent wrongdoing, an expansion from its current complaint-focused mandate. Bill C-42 represents a significant improvement to the commission’s ability to hold the RCMP accountable for the way it conducts its day-to-day policing.

However, C-42 does far too little to improve the commission’s capacity to scrutinize the RCMP’s national security activities. These activities, particularly counterterrorism operations, have become an increasingly significant part of the RCMP’s work since 9-11. That the bill does not strengthen accountability on national security activities is ironic, given that C-42 is supposed to be the Harper government’s response to recommendations centered on strengthening RCMP accountability made by the commission of inquiry on the case of Maher Arar in 2006.